Myanmar Opposition Leader in Custody

Published 8:00 pm, Friday, May 30, 2003

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 19 members of her party were taken into "protective custody" following a fight between her supporters and opponents in northern Myanmar, an official said Saturday.

The conflict late Friday left four people dead and 50 injured, Brig. Than Tun said. He said that Suu Kyi was unharmed in the incident.

"For their own security they are now under temporary protective custody," he told a press conference. Than Tun said the unrest had been caused by inflammatory speeches made by Suu Kyi against the military government.

The Yangon headquarters of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy had been temporarily closed and that some leaders of the party would not be allowed to leave their houses, he said.

Earlier, witnesses said about 10 plainclothes police officers had entered the NLD headquarters before tying a rope around a lock on the front gate. The officers then took photographs of the locked entrance to the party headquarters.

Myanmar officials declined to confirm the reports.

Earlier Saturday, about 20 police officers were seen outside the residence of NLD spokesman U Lwin.

Tension between the military government and the opposition has risen in recent weeks.

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was freed from 1 1/2 years of house arrest on May 6, 2002, and has been allowed to travel around the country and meet supporters.

But Suu Kyi claims she and her followers have been intimidated and their efforts to revive the party hampered. The National League for Democracy won national elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.